


Chain of Events

by PetiteEtoile



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Implied Violence, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, POV First Person, an AU in which Ell knows more than Carmilla, this was originally an assignment based on The Girls by Emma Cline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-02 18:51:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10950612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PetiteEtoile/pseuds/PetiteEtoile
Summary: Ell is ready. She leads the way. Carmilla, infatuated, follows. Neither knows what will happen, really.





	Chain of Events

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this is was originally a prediction scene for the end of The Girls by Emma Cline. Not meant originally as a fanfic but I wanted to see if I could make it work for an AU in which Carmilla is not really aware of the situation Ell is bringing her into. I know that's completely cryptic but I don't want to spoil my own writing... This is not canon based, and it is stand-alone. Mostly I wanted to put some of my creative writing somewhere and see what would happen. Thanks in advance if anyone reads this!

The dingy and pale scent of mould filtered through curtains which must have hung in the same position for ages. Light was scarce but Ell’s hand on my shoulder guided my movements. We stepped into the room, it already was filled with others whose whispers filled the air with a sort of poison. My throat was dry, and I knew that this would be a day I looked back on. It was an important day, according to Ell. Her hand fell from my shoulder to my waist. We slipped into the crowd, watching the older members as they casually smoked, adding to the dust already hanging heavy in the air. Suddenly a sharp drumbeat, and silence. Another beat and I reached for Ell. She looked down at me and smiled gently.   
“Just follow me, Carmilla. I know you’re a little nervous, but trust me, nothing will matter at all once we get it.”  
Ell kissed my cheek as one final and resounding drumbeat made me jump. The other members around us began to shuffle to sit on the carpets and piles of pillows scattered around the floor. She pulled me to sit, and a harsh voice surged through the air.   
“Alice Hopkins”  
A short middle-aged lady wearing a long white top which may have been a dress stood and made her way to the blanket hanging over a low doorway. Alice lifted the blanket and I glimpsed a table covered with envelopes which quickly flapped away into raggedy grey nothingness as the blanket dropped back.   
“Borace Rife,” droned the voice from behind the blanket. Borace stood and replaced Alice behind the blanket, stooping to fit through the doorframe. The voice kept on calling names. Finally, long after the caller had passed ‘e’ for Carmilla (not that I was paying attention; Ell was playing with my fingers, sending shivers like dancers up my arm) Ell was called.  
“Ell Chevaux and Carmilla Karnstein”  
I started. Ell stood and began to walk towards the blanket covered doorway. She paused before opening it and beckoned to me, offering me her hand. I took it and together we let the blanket fall into place behind us as we were consumed by the shadows created by candlelight.   
(***)  
My hands and knees shook as I crouched on the damp floor. Ell sat cross-legged beside me; in her hands was a thin envelope labeled with our names. She peeled it apart with practiced ease, revealing two plastic bags with a small amount of white silt clinging to the cellophane. Ell gestured for me to sit facing her. I did, questions swirling in my mind. Have I been put with Ell because this is my first time in a meeting? Did she request to be with me? Will I even remember this when it is all over? Because the soft candlelight on her hair is something I don’t want to forget… Her fingers touched my arm, and she looked seriously into my eyes.   
“Don’t move.” Ell lifted my wrist and poured the fine white dust onto the underside of my arm. The thin white line gleamed up at us, and Ell spoke softly, “Do it, Carmilla. I’ll be next,” she said, her fingers still holding my arm parallel to our crossed legs. I leaned in towards my arm, and breathed. My eyes were shut, and I felt her hand release. I heard the scuffle of paper and a short breath in. I opened my eyes to find the world clouded with tears, and I looked towards Ell. Her eyes were still shut, and she was taking shallow breaths. I touched her cheek with my finger.   
“Ell?” I said slowly. She opened her eyes and at that moment I could feel the world become slightly less steady under me. Ell uncrossed her legs and stared at them for a second before standing up and waiting for me. I tried to stand as slowly as she had, but stumbled a little. Ell caught me and gently lead me back through the blanket covering the door. The room we re-entered was nothing like the room we left.  
(***)  
A white cloth-covered table was positioned in the middle of the room, surrounded by the carpets and pillows we sat on before. The other members were again sitting on them, this time with small round cups in their hands. As we approached the gathering, a short fat man with hair the texture of the middle of a sunflower handed us the cups, filled with brown liquid. I smelled it. Strong alcohol. My thoughts were beginning to be muddled, and I could barely understand when the same voice as before began to shout,  
“Make way! It is their time! We are the lucky ones to behold such a time!”  
A young lady no more than 20 years old and a little boy stepped into the centre of the room. The whole room fell into hushed mumbling. It finally trailed off when the young lady lifted her cup and drank the liquid inside. She helped the little boy drink his, and then raised her arms to the sky. Ell squeezed my arm and tipped her cup into her mouth. I did the same. Suddenly in a flurry of activity, the members began to stand. I couldn’t see the young lady or the little boy anymore. Ell pulled me close and I felt her lips as she whispered,  
“You don’t need to do this one. Just watch me.” She kissed me. I could taste the metal of the cup from her mouth. Ell disappeared into the crowd and I pushed as close as I could to the edge of the group of members. The young lady and the little boy were laying on the table, and I could just catch sight of Ell’s ponytail through the sea of heads. My vision was getting blurrier and I could see flashes of gold, red, silver. I was jostled and I pushed back with hands that felt like they were woven in chain mail. Then there was a cry which floated about the smoke filled room. The slashes of red got more frequent, and I could hear many voices crying. Everyone crushed inwards towards the table, pushing to to the ground, and my eyes were filled with images of kaleidoscope creatures, always shrouded in red. At last as the visions were almost becoming unbearable, my vision dripped into black.   
(***)  
I awoke after some indeterminate amount of time to the flash of lights. Someone else’s arms and legs were on my back, weighing me down. I opened my eyes to find a scene only known to television horror. Smashed glass and smears of red layered the white cloths which once covered the tables. I heard the horrible splinter of a door smashing in. I looked a bit further to find Ell, know where she was, if she was okay. The red pools (I realised it must be blood) concentrated where there was what appeared to be a bundle. I squinted and my eyes refused to cooperate. I shook my head and tried again. The bundle focused and I saw the face of the little boy, not sleeping. Right next to him, the young lady, surrounded by blood. Her clothes has been torn and her arms lay at an odd angle. I closed my eyes as the tears came, burning my cheeks. I tried in vain to stand. Looking over my left shoulder, I saw Ell, lying draped over the woman who had been called up first. Alice.   
“Ell?” I whispered. She didn’t respond. I shouted. I screamed her name. Nothing. She was gone. They were all gone, except for me.


End file.
